Friday night was one of the best nights of my life. Counting Crows played at the Blender Theatre, a really small concert venue. They announced the show on Tuesday and tickets went on sale on Thursday (the day before the concert). I was hoping that because of the short notice it wouldn't be that difficult to get tickets, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Nicole and I couldn't get tickets when they went on sale. They sold out in seconds; it was impossible. The venue only holds 600 people, which is insanely small. Tickets were selling on ebay for $1000, which is absolutely crazy. I'm not going to pay more than a month's rent for 90 minutes of music, even if it is Counting Crows, the best live band in the world (in my opinion). On the night of the concert I went down to the venue to see if anyone was selling (they laughed at me), and I checked craigslist and the CCMB nonstop for affordable last-minute sales. Finally, at 8:00pm (the doors to the concert had opened at 6:00pm but Counting Crows weren't scheduled to go on until 10:00pm), I got a ticket from a really, really nice guy on the CCMB who was willing to sell it to me at face value. I met him and his friends at 9:00pm and we went into the concert, just in time to see the last opening act (there were 3 opening acts), Wild Sweet Orange. (They were really great, by the way. The fire alarm went off towards the end of their set, forcing them to leave the stage for awhile, and some people were speculating that someone from Counting Crows set it off because they were worried about being upstaged by the opening act.) As Wild Sweet Orange was playing I stood directly next to Adam Duritz, who was in the crowd watching. I nearly died. I cannot even tell you how crazy I am about him. I resisted the urge to bother him because he was enjoying the music, but I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. He didn't stay in the audience too long, I guess because he had to get ready to go onstage.
Counting Crows were absolutely amazing. It was honestly one of the best experiences of my life and definitely the best concert I've been to (yes, even better than seeing U2 live and being inches away from Bono). We made our way up to about the third row; I just couldn't believe I was that close. It's such a small, intimate venue, which is perfect for them. They played four songs from their new album that's being released next year, and they did lots of old favorites. The crowd was very enthusiastic, which made it fun. We all knew all the words to all the songs, even the new ones. It was the kind of show where it seemed like only die-hards made it in because it was so hard to get tickets; only the people who really, really wanted to be there managed to find a way in. It's cool to be surrounded by people who care as much as you do. They played my favorite version of "A Murder of One," the version that makes me cry. It was 14 minutes long on Friday. That perfect version of that song is my absolute favorite piece of music ever, and to hear it live was unbelievable. Being so close to the stage made it even more special. I swear Adam looked directly at me during part of it (during the line "There are girls in North Dakota..."). A couple of other highlights for me were the acoustic version of "Miami" and "Perfect Blue Buildings" with "Sometimes it Snows in April" alts. I recorded the show but I had some mic problems and it's not the best recording. Luckily there was another taper, and his recording is great. For the random bootleg collector who may happen to stumble across this blog, here's where you can download his torrent. And here are some pictures I took. These are two of my favorites of AD:
And the setlist:
I Dream of Michelangelo
Have You Seen Me Lately?
Mr. Jones
Pefect Blue Buildings (Sometimes it Snows in April)
Anna Begins
Cowboys
Miami (acoustic)
Hard Candy
Hanging Tree >
A Murder of One (Doris Day> I'm Sorry> Feathered> Been to Paris)
Washington Square
Meet on the Ledge (Fairport Convention cover)
Come Around
A Long December (new piano intro, slow first verse)
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